Date when thousands of Universal Credit households will get £1,000s back after DWP claim error
TO YOUR BENEFIT Date when thousands of Universal Credit households will get £1,000s back after DWP claim error
THE Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has confirmed when thousands will get £1,000s back after a major error.
The payments are being issued to people who received certain disability benefits such as Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) and were moved to Universal Credit.
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Thousands who moved to Universal Credit are still owed compensation
It was found some claimants unfairly lost out on Severe Disability Premiums (SDP) and Enhanced Disability Premiums (EDP) during the transition, resulting in a drop of income.
Both premiums offered additional financial support on top of the standard allowance for certain means-tested benefits.
Tens of thousands who transferred to Universal Credit and missed out on this protection have now been found to be owed arrears.
Around 57,000 people are reportedly thought to be affected by the issue, with the vast majority having now received redress.
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But, the DWP has confirmed around 13,000 cases are yet to be processed and cleared.
In its annual report published earlier this month, it said: "Unfortunately, some underpayments may be owed to customers who no longer have an active ESA claim and restrictions in data make it difficult to identify, assess and correct these errors."
The department said it was working its way through all the remaining 13,000 cases which should be completed by September.
The report added: "We are working to both correct existing errors and to prevent new errors in the new premiums cases."
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The total arrears being paid to the roughly 57,000 claimants who missed out on SDP and EDP is worth £452million.
Solicitors Leigh Day, who brought a legal challenge for claimants on disability benefits who didn't receive income protection while moving over to Universal Credit, secured a settle for 275 claimants who list their SDP earlier this year.
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These claimants were awarded between £200 and £3,000 for the loss of income they incurred.
We have asked the DWP how the remaining 13,000 people affected by the issue will receive any compensation and will update this story when we have heard back.
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We have also asked how much the approximately 44,000 who have already received compensation got on average.
Will I need to move to Universal Credit?
The DWP is currently moving everyone from old-style "legacy" benefits onto Universal Credit, through a process known as managed migration.
Universal Credit was set up to replace these benefits and the scheme kicked off in November 2022 after a successful pilot in July 2019.
As part of the process, households on legacy benefits are sent "migration notices" in the post which tell them how to make the move to Universal Credit as it's not automatic.
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Households must apply for Universal Credit within three months of receiving their managed migration letter.
Failing to do this can result in benefits being stopped.
Tax credits, income-based jobseeker's allowance, income support and housing benefit (for those under the state pension age) were permanently discontinued in April.
The remaining households, currently claiming income-related employment and support allowance (ESA), will be asked to move to Universal Credit by December 2025.
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Can I get help claiming Universal Credit?
As well as benefit calculators, anyone moving from legacy benefit to Universal Credit can find help in a number of ways.
You can visit your local Jobcentre by searching at find-your-nearest-jobcentre.dwp.gov.uk/.
There's also a free service called Help to Claim from Citizen's Advice:
England: 0800 144 8 444
Scotland: 0800 023 2581
Wales: 08000 241 220
You can also get help online from advisers by visiting, citizensadvice.org.uk/about-us/contact-us/contact-us/help-to-claim.
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Will I be better off on Universal Credit?
ANALYSIS by James Flanders, The Sun's Chief Consumer Reporter:
Around 1.4million people on legacy benefits will be better off after switching to Universal Credit, according to the government.
A further 300,000 would see no change in payments, while around 900,000 would be worse off under Universal Credit.
Of these, around 600,000 can get top-up payments (transitional protection) if they move under the managed migration process, so they don't lose out on cash immediately.
The majority of those - around 400,000 - are claiming employment support allowance (ESA).
Those who move voluntarily and are worse off won't get these top-up payments and could lose cash.
Those who miss the managed migration deadline and later make a claim may not get transitional protection.
The clock starts ticking on the three-month countdown from the date of the first letter, and reminders are sent via post and text message.
There is a one-month grace period after this, during which any claim to Universal Credit is backdated, and transitional protection can still be awarded.
Examples of those who may be entitled to less on Universal Credit include: Households getting ESA and the severe disability premium and enhanced disability premium
Households with the lower disabled child addition on legacy benefits
Self-employed households who are subject to the Minimum Income Floor after the 12-month grace period has ended
Either way, if these households don't switch in the future, they risk missing out on any future benefit increase and seeing payments frozen.
Do you have a money problem that needs sorting? Get in touch by emailing money-sm@news.co.uk.
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